reusable nappies

[Marzipan23]

hello,

did anyone else watch the positive birth company reusable nappy class? what did you think?
or has anyone used cloth nappies? I was into the idea before but getting rid of the poo sounds a bit more hands on than I was expecting....

You have to be pretty dedicated and have a good routine, space to dry and lots of spares. You can use a liner and put the poo in the loo. The liners can also be washed. If it's a sticky poo flush what you can and dispose of liner as you would a disposable nappy.

I’d like to use them, can’t bear the guilt of all the disposables. You can use liners so you can tip it straight in the toilet.

I have heard about the liners but these werent mentioned in the class! I would much prefer this option, how does that work? does it tend to catch all the poo? I can deal with wee going in my washer and maybe some poo but the thought of a full poo is too much

I used them with both DC but only during the day. We used disposable overnight.

I would say don't use from newborn. I would wait 3 months and then start. Even one a day is one less disposable in landfill. The washing routine is pretty simple. They are best hung outside to dry in the wind and sun.

Don't buy one brand. My eldest fit BumGenius best but my youngest fit Tots Bots best. Buy a few from different companies to try out.

The Nappy Lady is great. https://www.thenappylady.co.uk

I used disposable wipes too. They were fab. I went with Cheeky Wipes. My eldest is now using them again with her period.

I had Bambino Mio Solo nappies, but never got on with them. When my babies were small, the nappies were so bulky on them, then when they grew bigger and did bigger wees, I couldn’t seem to find a way to prevent leaks (even with boosters). I also struggled to keep nappy rash at bay.

Obviously thousands of people manage with them, but this was my personal experience.

Check if there's an NCT nappy library near you. We paid £10 for a big bag of various types and brands of newborn nappies, which we got until DD was 6 weeks old.

It meant we could see how they worked, see which brands and types worked best etc.
I wanted to use them, and did use reusable wipes, but I didn't use reusable nappies because of all the drying. We just don't have the indoor space to hang them up along with our regular washing.

I used them with my eldest and planning on using them again with number 2. I found that poo explosions were nearly non-existent in them and you didn't have the horrible chemically smell you get from disposables. The washing takes a bit of time but once you get into a routine it's pretty simple.

I am a big fan! :D

The first 6 months are super easy. You can just wash the poo! So that actually makes it an easy thing to try out for a bit to begin with. We started using them from birth, but because we didn't want to feel pressured we tried a combo the first week. Quickly switched to cloth nappies only. I found that cloth nappies contained poo much better than disposable ones; less smell, and fewer explosions, compared to the couple times we tried disposable nappies. We also had less issues with nappy rash with the cloth nappies.

I tried lots of different brands and methods and folds. You will figure out your own preference for you and your baby. If it ends up leaking, just make an adjustment. Same as with disposable nappies, right; most people try different brands with those too.

Then around 7 months with weaning it got a bit tricky, through to about 12 months lol. The poo can't just be thrown in the wash any more but it also doesn't plop in the toilet, so that can get messy to clean, not gonna lie. We just got on with it though, much to my own surprise. Beforehand it seems like the worst thing ever... But then, when it is happening, you just deal with it. We use Boots nappy liners, which you can throw away; or, when not dirty, actually wash and re-use once. Also at this time my baby started going on the potty loads, so that solved much of the problem. They say cloth nappies potentially help potty train earlier.

Ehm fair warning, our toddler then hit the terrible twos and STOPPED going on the potty hahaha. So that last point did not work out for us. But at least now the poo is (usually) pretty normal and just plops into the toilet. Which is, technicalllyyyyy, what you should also be doing with poo from disposable nappies (except no one does?!).

I have used cloth nappies travelling to lots of places too. Ideally you have access to a washing machine at your accommodation, but I have used laundrettes as well. It has not actually been as much of a hassle as I thought it would be beforehand. Changing on airplanes, on trains, all fine. Of course you do not have to go as hardcore as me though and you can just bring disposable nappies for trips! But I tried both and honestly found I didn't mind / notice much of a difference in convenience.

My MIL used cloth nappies on all her children (grew up on a farm) and thought I was doing the most normal thing ever. That definitely helped too.

I have two full time in cloth. It's so easy even from birth. Just borrow a kit from your local nappy library. One of my two does very soft poos so I have a dedicated poo knife to scrape it into the loo and then rinse in the sink so no solids go into my machine. It's time consuming but isn't everything that matters?

I used reusable nappies part time with DS from about 10 weeks old, I wasn't overly keen but SIL and a few friends had and I had some passed on to me so thought I would give it a go. Much more straightforward than I anticipated and once I got going I found my preferred types very reliable. I do love a nice print too and felt I was doing something vaguely environmentally friendly (I assume an extra rinse with hot wash every 2 days is better than 10-12 disposables?)

I say part time as I had enough for two days - whilst they were drying I used disposables, and I also used disposables overnight (well, a reusable waterproof cover over a pull up).

Re poo, DS was breastfed so until he was 6 months old I used fleece liners which I put straight into the washing machine on a rinse cycle. (I do clean the washing machine regularly). After weaning I used paper liners which went straight in the bin.

The Nappy Lady gives fab advice on types / how to use... there are some great sales on this week as it's Reusable Nappy Week 2024 and if you Google "reusable nappy trial pack" or "reusable nappy incentive" you can buy new bundles from different brands at introductory prices. You may also have a cloth nappy library near to you?

If I was to recommend anything it would be cloth wipes, even if you don't go on to use reusable nappies these are an absolute gamechanger (I use Cheeky Wipes with plain warm water on DS even now).

this is so helpful thank you! I use period knickers myself so using reusable nappies seems like an obvious choice. One thing I cant get over is putting the poo in the washing machine, does it really not cause any problems? I know a washing machine is to clean things but the thought of it seems nuts. Did anyone have any problems storing them until wash day and did you wash the bag as often as the nappies?

the nappy libraries sound great and i'll deffo have a look at this too! I do already have a pack of newborn nappies for the first couple of weeks that a friend gifted me so I probably wont be onto the reusable straight away

I used reusables for 2 children, full time in each case. For my first I didn't start until 6 months. The second I started from birth. I'd do from birth again - reusable nappies contain newborn accidents a lot better than disposables; I was forever changing the first child's clothes but didn't bother taking spares out with me for the second child. I prefer reusable liners though, because the disposable ones don't seem to sit right and aren't fluffy and soft like the reusable ones. Reusable wipes are also an infinitely better product than disposable wipes and will save an absolute fortune. Top tip: don't get distracted by pretty patterns; focus on nappies that perform the best. With the right system there should be no leaks. Sadly some of the brands I used are no longer available.

There used to be grants for reusable nappies offered by some councils too - check if you can still get them!

I used mostly cloth but also disposables sometimes for convenience. I live in a flat so hung them up to dry on a socktopus on the curtain pole. I wasn't concerned about the washing machine, it's the same as food or mud imo. I did a rinse cycle first though otherwise they'd be washed in dirty water.

My son was full time reusables and cloth wipes from birth to potty training including three trips abroad! We found it very easy as it was all we knew.

Happy to answer any questions :)

Baby two is due any day now so we're about to go back to the beginning 😂

Poo before solids is water soluble so literally just disappears. Once they start solids at about 6 months you need to rinse it in the toilet first but as PP said it never felt like as big of an issue as I thought it would be and you are technically meant to put poo down the toilet in disposables too. Any poo stains would then come out when hung in a window/outside as the sun bleaches them out (the sun thing works for most baby related stains!)

I didn't really believe it either, but our washing machine was totally fine! We wash every other day. We do a rinse followed by a 2 hour 40 degree cycle with powder detergent (used Nimble nappy lover till they discontinued it), and it all comes out perfect. I try to do a drum clean once in a while but tbh don't do it nearly as often as I should, and our machine and all other laundry remain totally clean.

I loved cloth nappies. We did use disposable sometimes but in the main cloth for all three of ours. The liners are great. I used a bin to give them a bit of a rinse and then flushes that down the toilet before washing.
I am pretty disorganised so if I managed most people can!

Babipur have a great offer for Real Nappy Week.

https://www.babipur.co.uk/cloth-nappies/reusable-nappy-week-offers-2021.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3ycDK3pSExInX9WwX4sMEj32v1jnQ2p7N1QmiZzhVKe020jJz6Ri7n0aemAcUNkrpPTcJEZq8KKgpBQGEcgqEGlgjP5MPhZESyrvnO0rH1WQd5Pa68ootaGfJ6bq7DqRsLpHRSWNh9DOnQL1H5

i used them for DD and will use them again for baby 2. As a previous poster said, I wouldn’t use them from birth though as personally just found it too much faff. My DD was a big nappy wetter at night too so we had to use disposables, but during the day they were great. We have the bambino mio all in ones and used liners in them for poo which we then put in the nappy bin like a normal nappy. Wouldn’t recommend flushing the liners, they clog the drain which we learnt the hard way 🫠